In 1839, when the plans were drawn up for what is now the Ashmolean Museum in
Oxford, the galleries that were to be devoted to fine art were more wishful
thinking than careful planning. The collection, which then for the most part
comprised of the Arundel collection of Greek and Roman statues, displayed in
two inappropriate rooms in the Bodleian Library, did include a number of
paintings but, according to Dr Jon Whiteley, the museum’s senior curator of
European art: “Everybody knew the pictures were second-rate.” It was hoped
that if a gallery were provided, better pictures would eventually fill